An After Story
by mCamilleS
Summary: Jowy, Riou and Nanami are reunited. Should Jowy also reunite with his ex-wife, or not? A oneshot.


He felt uneasy as his bestfriend munched the carrots. The crunchy sounds made him flinch; it almost made his teeth grit. He watched in horror, and felt relieved when Riou took the last bite. He kept reminding Nanami not to include carrots in their food but she never listened.

It's been a year since they went on a journey, just the three of them. It has also been a year since he last saw Jilia and Pilika.

Of course, he's happy to be reunited with Riou. He never even thought that they would be together again. They were fated to fight, and now, they are actually making up for the lost time they could have spent with each other.

However, he couldn't help but worry about his girls.

His thoughts were interrupted by Nanami smacking him upside the head.

"OUCH! What was that for?"

"You weren't listening."

Riou laughed, and annoyed as he was, he laughed with him. Eventually, Nanami laughed with them.

"I was asking if you ever had sex with Jilia."

The laughter stopped. Jowy looked at Riou as a plea for help, but Riou turned away, whistling and showing fake interest to the rustling of the leaves. Jowy evaded the question by pretending he didn't hear Nanami and asked Riou what he was looking at.

"I saw a griffin. Reminded me of Feather."

"Feather?"

Riou nodded.

"What a weird name. Who is that?"

Nanami wasn't going to let the subject go, though.

"Jooooowy~ did you ever do it with Jilia? Come on, come on. Tell me!"

Jowy and Riou have this habit when they start ignoring Nanami once engaged in a conversation. Not that they intentionally do this, but they have been doing this since they were kids. And besides, Nanami has always been a nosy prat, anyway.

"One of the 108 stars. Yes, you don't know most of them, now that I think about it."

"Does this Feather guy love griffins? Does he own one?"

"No. But he is a griffin."

It took a minute before Riou's words sank in.

"A... griffin?"

"Yes. A griffin."

"Monsters? A part of your entourage? You've got to be kidding me, right?"

"Hey, that was rude. Feather is a friend, not a monster."

"Griffins are monsters. Yes, we can make Wind Hats out of their feathers, but still, monsters."

"Feather is different. We only talked once, but he has a kind soul."

"How did you become friends with a griffin, anyway?"

"Feather. Y'see, I was helping Clive -"

"Who's Clive?"

"Not sure if you remember him, but he was the gunner we met in Muse."

"Oh,"

"I was helping Clive look for Elsa, and then we saw Ayda defending Feather from two townsmen."

Jowy was about to ask who Ayda was, but Nanami butted in.

"I was there, too." Nanami answered, taken in by the conversation of the two boys.

"Yes, she was. She even got scared when other griffins suddenly arrived."

Nanami gave Riou a why-did-you-say-that look and Jowy grinned.

"Apparently, those griffins were Feather's enemies. Ayda attempted to protect Feather, but she was outnumbered. And since I am impulsive and always ready to help, (Jowy nodded as he said this) we fought the griffins. One of the crystals Badeux gave me started shining, and by instinct, I raised it. We heard Feather speak. He thanked us, and joined our cause."

"Wow. That sounds cool."

"Not as cool as being able to suppress the Beast Rune."

"In the end, you guys were the ones who destroyed that beast."

All three suddenly stopped talking. They usually did not talk about what happened during the denouement of the State-Highland war.

"I miss Pilika. We should visit her," Jowy couldn't help but think that their conversations are going into the wrong turns.

"No."

"Why not? I'm pretty sure she misses you, too."

"I know. But Pilika and Jilia are better off if they don't see us."

"If you say so."

"I say so."

Jowy sighed. "Riou, can you please convince Nanami that I am making the right decision?"

Nanami countered. "No, Riou. Prove to Jowy how wrong he is. He loves them so much. He deserves to see them, doesn't he?"

Riou considered both options. "Let's just watch them from a distance. Jowy's right. Jilia loves him. But Jowy was also the reason that her father and brother died. Still, we all miss Pilika. Let's take a look, then leave."

The other two were reluctant but eventually agreed.

Two weeks passed before they finally reached Grassland. The three are now standing a few meters away from the mansion Jowy had prepared for Jilia and Pilika. Nanami noticed that Pilika has grown a bit taller, and that Jilia is as beautiful as ever.

Nanami saw the longing in Jowy's eyes. Riou noticed, too, but he is in charge of making sure they are concealed. Since there aren't much places to hide, he's to take this task seriously.

"Are you sure you're not going to approach them?"

"It's enough to know that they're fending off for themselves."

"Why are you like that? Jilia loves you. You love her. Why can't you let her see you?"

Jowy smiled sadly. "I love her. But I want to see the world. I want to see as many things as I can, how the food is like in other lands, to know the concept of rain... There's a lot to experience. And I can't bring them with us. It's dangerous. As much as I love them, it would only break them more if I showed up now and leave them the next day. Because as much as I love them, I would still leave."

Nanami's eyes are now brimming with tears.

"And Nanami?"

"Yes?"

"I did."


End file.
